We’ve written about the Floyd Bennett Field race series many times on this site and for good reason – there’s nothing quite like riding down Flatbush Ave with dozens of friends and teammates, racing around an abandoned airfield for an hour, then finishing off the night with a few celebratory beers. After a hiatus in 2020 and 2021, the series returned this year with a new promoter and race director (Tom Mains) and a new sponsor (Lucarelli & Castaldi, who seem to sponsor nearly every bike race in NYC – thank you!)

The summer series has been split into two, with series 1 running from May to the end of June and series 2 taking place in July and August. The TBD women’s and men’s squads had an extremely successful series one, with Leah taking the yellow jersey for overall lead in the Women’s Open field, Scott winning the yellow in the Men’s 3/4, Shane taking the green points jersey for part of the series, and many other team members ending up on the podium.

All photos by Marco Quezada unless otherwise noted

Below, Scott and Leah share why they love racing at FBF along with a few favorite moments from series one:

The vibes

Leah: I love that all the local teams pitched in to sponsor a race week to keep the series going. The community feel and camaraderie at FBF is rivaled only by a cross race or a day at Kissena Velodrome, which imo has the best vibes of any local race series. Road racing can have a bit of a reputation for not being the friendliest atmosphere, but FBF does a lot to dispel that: I showed up to my first Floyd race in 2019 not knowing many other racers, but Lucia, Liz and Shane came over and chatted with me and later that year, I ended up joining the team. I hope we’re continuing to foster an environment this year where new racers feel welcome and everyone has a good time. My favorite part of a Floyd night might be riding back from the race with a huge group and hanging out at Franklin Park for Taco Tuesdays and a race debrief.

Scott: I love the nerves that start to creep in towards the end of the work day. They quickly go away and are replaced with excitement once I meet up with teammates and we start the pilgrimage to FBF. Everyone is in a good mood before the race (the non morning start probably helps with this). There is less argy bargy than in the park races as well which is nice. My favourite part of the evening is the post-race ride back down Flatbush, admiring the cotton-candy New York sky, and shooting the breeze about the race over an ice cold beer and some tacos.

The course

Leah: You might look at the course and think, oh only four gentle turns, how boring! And while it’s true that it’s not a super twisty course, the road surface and wind more than make up for a lack of tight corners. With all the bumps and bits of gravel and grass growing between cracks, there’s a reason why with enough time, everyone falls prey to the Curse of Floyd and ends their race with a flat. But it also makes things interesting! You have to figure out where the wind is coming from and how to best protect yourself while also not ending up in a bush or the waist-high grassy field on the back straight.

Scott: Floyd is easily my favourite regular course to race in NYC, no offense to the parks, but they can’t hold the wheel of FBF. Sure the surface sucks and there are cracks everywhere, but FBF really rewards those who know how to race their bike. There are endless places to attack and split the field, could be into a headwind to create some echelons, or using the tailwind to create gaps when people are sleeping. Every week is different depending on the teams that turn up or which way the wind is blowing.

The start time

Leah: This one is self-explanatory. As someone who is barely functional before 9am, I very much appreciate the 6:30pm start time. The ride back + post-race hangs + post-race adrenaline do mean a later than usual bedtime, but it’s a price I’m willing to pay. It’s also really nice that the race start times are staggered – the M3/4 and M1/2/3 races start at 7 which means they can cheer for us at the beginning of our race and we can catch the end of theirs. It’s always satisfying watching teammates organize their leadout train and sprint for the win!

Scott: It’s very nice to have a race that doesn’t involve a wakeup between 3am and 4am. The only trouble I have with the start time and post race festivities is that it takes me quite some time to cool down and that means a late bed time. I do wish that we could see the finish of the women’s race though because our teammates have been very dominant each week!

The team tactics and race practice

Leah: I was super burnt out on racing at the beginning of the season and I wasn’t sure how I would feel about Floyd. But I had good memories from the couple races that I did in 2019 and figured that even if I didn’t do well, I’d still probably have a good time hanging out with the team. Then the first race of the series started and went even better than expected. Despite the fact that we hadn’t raced much together as a team due to covid-related interruptions, everything just gelled perfectly – we came in with a loose plan, communicated well throughout the race, formulated new plans, and ultimately pulled off the win! The rest of the series was an exercise in situational awareness, working together as a team, taking risks, and figuring out what to do and what not to do next time. Practicing the intermediate and final sprints every week really helped us figure out where to start the leadout and open up the sprint – the finishing straight is deceptively long and it’s hard not to go too early! Our team tactics and practice really paid off: we managed to win or podium every race in the series and keep the overall lead.

Scott: At the start of the season, I really thought I didn’t have ‘it’ anymore but I was excited to help my teammates with their racing goals. I thought maybe towards the end of the season I could maybe get on one podium at FBF. In slack before the first race of the season, Rod asked if we had a sprinter and I put my hand up because nobody else did. Well I achieved my season goal in the first race and got a win for the first time on the road since 2016. The win wouldn’t have been possible without the brilliant leadout from my teammates. We hadn’t raced much together but we were so in sync with our plan and communication, it felt like a perfect race. It was such an honour to have my teammates sacrifice their race every week to make sure we could take the race to a sprint. It was so rewarding to come away with two firsts, a second and the overall jersey out of the 4 races I could enter. Turns out I still have a good bunch kick and even though my fitness isn’t where it has been in years past, I can lean on experience and teammates to get results. I know this a series one recap but our ability to race as team was so evident in last week’s 123 race where we formulated a last lap plan in the race and I got a very close 3rd in the bunch sprint, my best result since moving to New York!